(cowritten by Ana and Gretchen) Picking up where we left off last night, our group was challenged with a traditional kickoff game.

The group is divided into teams of four. One camper, blindfolded, must follow directions from their group to retrieve a crumpled piece of paper and bring it back to the group chair. The other team members are forbidden from entering the coned area.

Trust us... there's a method to the madness.

On top of that, chairs were added as obstacles and all of the teams were going at once.

"NO, LEFT!"

After the chaos has come to a close, it's time to reflect on what went well, and what didn't. How should we communicate with our group? Why do we have group agreements?

"It worked better when one person was talking." "Addressing team members' names so they know you're talking to them." "We should plan in advance." Seems like if we talk over each other less, we get to work together more.

Monday morning, we reveal the teams and the project. The project has two requirements: it has to be an animal, and it has to hold at least two collaborators. On top of that, each group has a specific characteristic for their animal.

Nooi's meeting begins with laying down some group agreements and brainstorming project ideas.

Team Nooi has to create something LONG

Team Kablooi has to create something WIDE

Team Piki has to make something TALL

Team Panda has to make something that HANGS

Trudging up the hill bringing snacks, water, and most importantly, sunscreen.

Putting our driver skills to the test from yesterday's tool training. Panda starts their phoenix the way everyone at Tinkering School starts a project: with a box.

...except Kablooi, with their octagonal dragon boat! Caitlin and Henry start measuring out their lengths.

Nooi has started to create a l o n g alpaca. They started with a doubled sided bench, an ambitious start to the week. Before long, they had a backrest, feet, and seating for nine.

Nooi made new strides in using three people to put on a clamp. Dedication, y'all.

Piki ponders how to make a tall giraffe and how to get up it using 2x3's. A common rut we run into is what to do after we make the actual rectangle box.

This morning, our Tinkerers were saying "How are we going to build this?!?!". By the end of the day, many are thinking about the progress they've made, "We're already finished...?" The cool thing about Juniors week is that everyone brings a great amount of energy that helps us collaborators hit the ground running. And we still have three more build days! Everyone at camp is psyched to watch these animals grow (or shrink?)